Blog: What to do if your staff win the lottery

As recent events at a certain bus company have shown, it’s sometimes the case that when employees are winners, it’s their employer that loses – usually losing a bunch of staff! With so many staff syndicates playing the lottery, how can employers mitigate the risks of big-time winners all downing tools (or stopping their buses) […]

UK faces spring of discontent

The UK is facing a spring of discontent, with baggage handlers at Stansted airport voting to strike, doctors balloting for action in May and the police planning a protest that month too. Holidaymakers travelling through Stansted over the Easter weekend face disruption after 150 members of the GMB union voted to take industrial action over […]

Balfour Beatty warns its 12,000 staff of possible redundancies

Just as Balfour Beatty warned all of its 12,000 UK construction services staff of possible redundancies today, the OECD forecast that the UK had moved back into recession. With new infrastructure projects expected to fall sharply after the Olympic Games in London this summer, the building giant, which employ 50,000 people worldwide, said it was […]

Blog: Using transparency as a tool to rebuild employee trust

"I am sorry, but we have already identified someone for that role.” The next question was, “how could that be, the job was just posted on the Internet?”   What my friend had just found out is a little dirty secret in some organizations. Sometimes when jobs are posted, and even when they are not, […]

Employers and unions spat over extent of public-private sector pay gap

Employers and unions were at odds today over official government figures showing that public sector workers are paid on average 8% more than their private sector colleagues. The spat came about after the Office of National Statistics published its latest snapshot details of UK Plc’s employment profile.   Apart from telling us that the number […]

Talking Point: Do you really know how to get the best out of your older workers?

Of all the things that we aspire to during our career, being an ‘older worker’ probably isn’t one of them. Yet, as we age, this identity is thrust upon us and, with it, a range of stereotypes based on other people’s perceptions.   As a 56-year old manager recently pointed out: “Suddenly all that people […]

CIPD to boost enforcement for HR code of conduct

The CIPD is attempting to boost the professionalism of the HR industry by strengthening its code of conduct and boosting its complaints and disciplinary procedures to ensure more effective enforcement. The revised code of professional conduct, which is due to come into force for all Institute members on 1 July, was drawn up by a […]

Employers must plan now for proposed tanker driver strike, warns lawyer

Employers should start planning now for a proposed strike by fuel tanker drivers that would inevitably cause “large-scale disruption”, a lawyer has advised. More than 2,000 drivers at seven distribution depots across the UK took part in a ballot yesterday over taking industrial action for the first time in more than 10 years.   According […]

Public sector jobs cull to lead to “tectonic shift” in UK labour market

More than one in seven public sector jobs will be lost as a result of coalition government budget cuts, leading to "a tectonic shift" in the nature of the UK labour market, according to the CIPD. The organisation cited the Office for Budget Responsibility‘s latest employment projections, which indicate that the public sector workforce is […]

Employers can sack older workers to cut costs, rules Appeal Court

Legal opinion is mixed as to whether a landmark court case will open the floodgates for employers to dismiss staff based on their age in order to escape large pension pay-outs – without being subject to discrimination claims. The Court of Appeal ruled yesterday that Cumbria Primary Care Trust was within its rights to make […]

Bus driver appeals sacking – for eating a grape

A bus driver has lodged an appeal against being sacked apparently for eating a grape while on duty.  Michael Shephard, a 66-year-old granddad from Coventry, claims that he was dismissed by National Express after he was caught on CCTV popping the offending fruit into his mouth two weeks ago.   Although he was sitting in […]

Public sector jobs cull will jump to 730,000 by 2017, forecasts OBR

A huge 20,000 more public sector workers than expected will lose their jobs over the next four years, taking the total cull to 730,000, the government’s independent forecasters revealed yesterday. In November, the Office for Budget Responsibility had forecast that the number of public servants being axed would be 310,000 higher than the 400,000 predicted […]

Blog: Lessons on dealing with the unions during times of change

Welcome to this weeks Guest Blogger – Paul Myers is the HR Manager for a local transport company. He has initiated significant change in his organisation and has managed to keep his staff on board. He is a people centric manager who has considered how to increase and harness employee engagement at every opportunity.   […]

Budget 2012: Fears over lack of prep time for Olympics Sunday working plans

With the Olympic and Paralympic Games only just over three months away, plans to suspend Sunday trading laws over the eight weekends of the events have sparked concern over the lack of time that employers have to prepare. In his Budget today, Chancellor George Osborne proposed emergency legislation to enable large shops in England and […]

Budget 2012: Income tax changes branded ‘Robin Hood lite’ at best

Although the Chancellor may have redrawn taxation boundaries, his Budget has done nothing to improve the outlook for growth and jobs, according to an influential HR body. Dubbed by the deputy prime minister, Nick Clegg, as a ‘Robin Hood Budget”, John Philpott, chief economic adviser at Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development was sceptical, however. […]

Budget 2012: Five industries singled out for special treatment

The Chancellor picked out the aerospace, energy and pharmaceuticals, creative media and science industries as being crucial in helping the UK reduce its reliance on the financial services sector. George Osborne said in his Budget speech today that he would be “backing” the five industries as part of a “deliberate strategy to create a more […]

PCS union to push for 2nd national pension strike in April

Thought public sector pension strikes had all blown over? Not a chance. The Public and Commercial Services Union may have confirmed that it will not join with members of the University and Colleges Union and the National Union of Teachers in a one-day stoppage and demonstration in London next Wednesday (28 March).   But it […]

Budget 2012: The dismantling of national pay bargaining begins

The Chancellor will announce in his Budget speech on Wednesday that he is bringing forward plans to allow a handful of central government departments to set their own local employee pay rates. In a move that could lead to further strike action among unions already angry over proposed changes to staff pensions, three departments are […]

Blog: Lessons on empowering staff to win

One of the things I love about being in HR is that everyone always bring you these rich stories that sometimes causes you to have an "a-ha" moment. A major retail chain this past week did something that, for a retail company, needs to be lauded.   In retail, you have a workforce that is […]

Best Practice: Four tips to help HR become more business savvy

If HR professionals want to gain in credibility, they must evolve from simply being deep subject matter experts to becoming business leaders with a people specialism, the CIPD has warned. Although three out of five HR practitioners questioned for the organisation’s latest report agreed that the profession needed to increase its understanding of business issues, […]